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Hollister City Council has changed its meeting time amid opposition from members of the public.
On March 18, the council voted 3-2 to change its meeting time to 4 p.m., with a hard stop at 10 p.m., on the first and third Tuesday of each month. Councilmembers Rick Perez and Rolan Resendiz opposed the motion. The council currently meets every first and third Monday at 6:30 p.m.
This is the second time the council has changed its meeting time. Councilmember Dolores Morales said the change was made because meetings were running into the late evening.
The conversation to move the meeting time began on Dec 18, when the five council members discussed several time options in both daytime and evening hours.
On Feb. 5, a council majority agreed to a 4 p.m. start time. Then at its March 4 meeting, the council voted 4-1 to move to a 9 a.m. start time on the first and third Tuesday of each month. Resendiz opposed the motion.
Before the March 18 vote, council members commented on the change.
As a teacher, Resendiz said if the council met during the day he would not be able to attend. In addition, he said, students, teachers, principles, and daytime workers would also not be able to attend.
“I think that we should conduct business during the time that you can participate in it,” Resendiz said.
Mayor Mia Casey said as a retiree, she has flexibility. She said that when an item is important, people come.
“I’ve seen many of you who are sitting here tonight and at county meetings during the day, so I know when it’s an important topic people do show up or call in,” she said.
“So I’m not convinced that no one can participate if it’s during the day.”
Morales said that public participation is important and people are always allowed to “Zoom in.”
There were 16 public comments where most of the speakers spoke against the change, except one.
One speaker, Elia Salinas, said that a daytime change would benefit city employees who attend the evening meetings.
“Changing the time is being respectful of your employees as well as of their time,” she said.
The other 15 speakers advocated for public engagement at the city meetings.
Andy Hsia-Coron said many people are able to attend the evening meetings because “that’s when the public is free.”
“They can turn off their television set and come to a city council meeting and find out what’s going on in their city and engage if they want to bring issues to your attention,” he said.
While Hsia-Coron is retired, he can attend meetings whenever they’re scheduled, but “most of the public doesn’t have that flexibility,” he said.
He also made a case for high school students and young adults who are in school.
“They can’t come and observe the civic experience if you have your meetings during the day and they’re not going to be cut loose from their school,” he added.
At the beginning of the meeting, about 28 Hollister high school students from the robotics team were recognized for their community service and volunteer work. Hsia-Coron said if the regular meeting time was during the day, students may not be able to participate.
Two elected government officials spoke during public comment: San Juan Bautista City Councilmember Jackie Morris-Lopez and San Benito County Supervisor Dom Zanger. Both urged the council to stick to an evening time.
Morris-Lopez said morning meetings would limit participation.
“You’re only going to get a crowd of maybe some retired people or maybe night shift workers,” she said. “But you’re not going to get a diverse crowd here.”
She recommended the council take extra steps to direct the meetings so that they don’t go beyond midnight, by limiting presentations and holding special meetings.
The first reading of the resolution will be agendized for April 2, City Clerk Jennifer Woodworth told BenitoLink.
Other council business
Kari Wagner, principal and director of water resources with Wallace Group, a civil engineering contractor hired by the city, said earthquakes and breakdown over time may have contributed to the sewer line collapse on the corner of Fourth Street and Graf Road. He said the cause is still unknown and that the clay pipe is 50 to 70 years old.
The city hired contractors to fix the 21-foot pipe that collapsed Feb 23, in response to a staff investigation of sewer odor in that part of the town.
Hollister Public Works Director William Via said the ground around the pipe was “not as saturated as we had thought it would be. It was basically dry.” In addition, Via said the collapse did not cause any odor. Wagner agreed.
“This particular break is not the source of sewer odors in your sewer collection system,” Wagner said.
Resendiz asked about the cost of a new camera system to monitor sewer pipes, since the old system has not been operating for over a year.
Via said a new camera system costs $300,000 to $500,000. He said he’s hoping to add it to the next budget.
Councilmember Tim Burns urged city staff to bring the budget to the council sooner to approve the cost of the camera system.
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